The initiative aims to improve traveller experience at the airline’s Dubai International airport hub, focussing on innovative and practical solutions that will be based on the “6s” - Smart, Speed, Saving, Service, Safety, Security.The first two meetings, held at Emirates Headquarters, have successfully concluded, where representatives from each partner organisation reviewed field data on travellers’ key touch points and evaluated a suite of recommendations for implementation in the short and medium term.Matters discussed ranged from simplifying passenger check-in processes, simplifying baggage drop-off and tracking, to using advanced technology throughout the passenger journey within the terminal.

Using a collaborative and action-oriented approach, the team comprising of senior representatives from each partner organisation will now conduct a series of workshops to agree priorities and a working plan, geared towards incremental implementation in four-week sprints. In parallel, the working group will also look at goal posts further into the future, in line with Dubai’s 10X programme to generate innovations that will put the city 10 years ahead of other global cities.

Adel Al Redha, Emirates’ executive vice president and chief operations officer said: “Last year, over 57 million passengers flew on Emirates, to Dubai or through Dubai, and that number continues to grow. To us, the hub experience and sustaining our growth is very important. Making use of technology and bringing new initiatives to life is key to building our future and staying ahead of competition. By working together we have a great opportunity to fast-track these initiatives and overcome challenges to improve the Emirates customer journey at our Dubai hub. We are fortunate and thankful to have very supportive partners who are fully engaged with us on this mission, and share the same vision to ensure the Dubai experience remains leading-edge and world-class. We look forward to working closely with them on the agreed initiatives.”

Major General Mohammed Ahmed Almarri, Dubai General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA) said: “Our team at the airport is often the first experience that a visitor would have with brand Dubai. Being on the customer frontline, we actively seek ways to improve on our operations and service delivery. For us, the potential impact on customers, and speed of implementation and the warm welcome are our key considerations when we evaluate new solutions for implementation.”

Dubai International (DXB) has registered yet another month of record passenger traffic with 8.2 million passengers welcomed in August, according to the monthly traffic report issued today by operator Dubai Airports.